Windows Broken Into Become Earrings In One Woman’s Quest To Keep Glass Out Of Landfills

Windows Broken Into Become Earrings In One Woman’s Quest To Keep Glass Out Of Landfills

Car break-ins in the Bay Area are down, but not out. From each one of these ugly surprises, local artisan Sydney Jones creates a surprising amount of beauty.

Using a kitchen-top kiln, she takes advantage of safety glass’ crystalline structure to quickly turn the broken pieces into floral-themed earrings of jade green.

It not only helps divert long-lived glass from piling up in landfills, but diverts a little bit of the anger over the break-in too.

“I was actually overwhelmed by the community response to the reuse of glass. I never would have thought it would be reclaimed glass that people would get excited about,” Jones told CBS News Bay Area.

She recycles glass in several ways through her small shop in Oakland called Odd Commodities (missed the opportunity to call it ‘Oddity’ Commodities there Sydney) but the most popular is her “Street Revival collection,” a simple selection of four patterns of molten safety class from car windows.

“I was actually overwhelmed by the community response to the reuse of glass. I never would have thought it would be reclaimed glass that people would get excited about.”

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She typically collects the glass herself with a broom and dustpan. Neighbors or fans of hers reach out when there’s been a break-in somewhere in the neighborhood, and she quickly arrives to sweep up.

The most common glass recycling in the US involves extreme heat, and is therefore more likely to be carbon intensive and expensive—prohibitively so. It’s not uncommon for trash collection companies to simply resort to landfills rather than investing in the expensive recycling method.

Jones’ customers are pleased they can reduce this impact, even in their own small way.

WATCH the story below from CBS News…